Serenade of the Crimson Rose
by Mr Leet Shoes
Summary: Serenade of the Crimson Rose- A glimpse into the past of Hatake Kakashi
1. Opperation Commense

Serenade of the Crimson Rose  
  
Chapter 1: Operation Commence  
  
Kakashi walked slowly down the street towards the Anbu Headquaters, this was his first day coming there since he made the sqaud, and already he was late, in his hands he held a book, which would often be the case for him. He had only been to the Anbu Headquaters once before, but it wasn't a place you easily forgot, though it seemed like any other building, inside it appeared to be a large locker room. As he made his way there he kept both eyes on the book, it was no wonder that he ran in to someone on his way into the building. The second the book dropped he crouched down to pick it up. His eyes falling first on the persons sandle clad feet then making their way up, at last his eyes landed on the face of a beautiful female shinobi, she appeared to be about his age, and also quite flustered.  
  
"I'm sorr-"He began to apologize  
  
"You should watch where you are going!"She said angerly, her fist clenching  
  
"I am sor-"He began again  
  
"If you cant walk and read at the same time, you shouldn't try!"She commented, her eyes falling down to where his book laid. He had is hand over the cover and slowly scooped it up and placed it into his back pocket. She eyed him for a second 'He's kinda cute' she thought, but soon she was back on the book subject.  
  
"What book is that?" She said suddenly interested. He looked at her and blushed a little, his eyes turning into slits as he smiled wide in embarassment.  
  
"It's a romance" He said as he stood up. Suddenly she remembered where she was.  
  
"Why were you headed into this building? What is your name?" She began to wonder.  
  
"Hatake Kakashi, is my name, and I am here on business" Kakashi replied cooly.  
  
"I see" she replied "Very well, Hatake, I am Susande, follow me" she added, and started to walk into the building, once inside she gave him a piece of paper which had his locker number on it, inside the locker he found a black anbu robe, and a white mask with black painting. Susande said she would be waiting in the meeting room with the "others". He didn't really know what to expect, but he got dressed anyhow, he noticed that Susande went into a certain door, infact it appeared to the the only door inside the building at all. When he opened the door, he wasn't shocked to find it lead to a stairway, which he lead to a underground hallway. When he got to the first doorway he peered in, and saw 3 Anbu appearing to have a conversation, they all seemed to be looking in his way, but he decided otherwise.  
  
~FLASHBACK~  
  
"Yondaime-Sensei, why do Anbu wear those masks?" an 8 year old Kakashi asked his Sensei, whom smiled back at him, they had just passed a group of Anbu that were hunched over a body.  
  
"Well Hatake, they wear those masks to confuse the opponent, because they can't tell where they are looking, also, it helps to protect identity." He answered  
  
~END FLASHBACK~  
  
He waited for them to notice him, and once they did they made their way over towards him.  
  
"Hatake Kakashi" said Susande's voice. As she motioned her head towards the two Anbu that stood beside her.  
  
"This is Uchiha Obito" she commented as the Anbu on the far left nodded his head. 'A Uchiha huh? How interesting.' He thought as he nodded back. He then looked towards the one in the center. "and this is Hayate Gekkou" she said, this time turning her head down and bringer her shoulders up, as someone might do to show they had blushed. They both nodded to each other and Hayate walked out the doorway, pushing his way past Kakashi.  
  
"Let go" he ordered, Kakashi took note that his mask was painted with red paint, meaning he was the sqaud captian. He looked at the other two, who were staring at each other. Obito was the first to look at Kakashi.  
  
"He's not always such a ass" claimed Obito calmly, as Susande looked at Kakashi  
  
"He's just a little jealous" she added further stating "After all, you're only 14 and you're on the sqaud, that's impressive." She stated as both Obito and Susande started off after Hayate, Kakashi couldn't help but grin under his mask 'Impressive?' he chuckled and went off after them.  
  
Next Chapter: Rival Hearts 


	2. Rival Hearts

Serenade of the Crimson Rose  
  
Chapter 2: Rival Hearts  
  
The next week seemed to fly by, each night seemed to be the same, endless patrol runs and lengthy reports about pretty much nothing, for the whole week, Kakashi hadn't so much as seen another Shinobi on their run. He had begun to wonder why he had even agreed to join the squad in the first place, but he had been talked into it by Yondaime. He shrugged off this thought though as he began to think of Susande, a grin coming to his face as he recalled the other day.  
  
~FLASHBACK~  
  
"Hey Kakashi-Kun, why don't you join me and Obito-San for dinner?" Susande asked as they all walked out of the building after a day of patrol, Kakashi stood there for a moment, his lazy dark grey eyes going to Obito's, who nodded in agreement   
  
"Sure, sounds like fun" said Kakashi as they all started to walk off towards the village square.  
  
"Hey, Kakashi-Kun" The gentle sound of Uchiha Obito came his head was turned back in Kakashi's direction "You seem down during patrol, but don't worry, things will get interesting, they are just taking it slow because you're new to the squad." And with that he gave a comforting smile.  
  
~END FLASHBACK~   
  
Kakashi placed his mask on his face and went to the meeting room, entering into it he saw the cloaked form of Susande leaned against Hayate's form as they laughed, obviously at one of Obito's stories, he couldn't help but frown at this action, for he had taken a liking to Susande as they talked over dinner in the restaurant while listening to Obito's stories.  
  
~FLASHBACK~  
  
Kakashi and Susande sat across from each other in a booth, as Obito occupied a chair at the opposite end of the table, he was telling them a story about his missions as a Gennin, Kakshi and Susande where laughing as Susande suddenly looked out the window and noticed that it it was getting dark, she quickly slid out of the bench and looked at them nervously.  
  
"I am sorry Kakashi-Kun, Obito-San, I promised Hayate-Sempai that I would meet him for a walk" She explained and she bowed her head and made for the doorway. Kakashi threw a glance to Obito, who was watching her walk away with the same smile on his face that he always wore.   
  
"What's with them?" Kakashi asked as his head motioned towards the retreating Susande.  
  
"Oh, Them? They've been an Item for a while now, Atleast since Hayate got his promotion" He suddenly became silent and his smile was somewhat phaded, his veiw shifted from Kakashi to the window behind him.  
  
"By the way, Obito-Kun, how come Hayate got Squad Leader, you've been here longer" Kakashi wondered cocking he head to the side slightly. Obito's gaze went back to Kakashi and he offered a sad smile.  
  
"Well, Kakashi-Kun, to be honest I am a little slow witted, and after all he did master THAT technique"Obito's smile brightened at those a little, but his face was still sad.  
  
~END FLASHBACK~  
  
Kakashi cleared his throat "I heard we will be guarding the Forth today, Sorry I am late, I was helping an old lady with her groceries" They started at him for a few seconds before he spoke again "At any rate, I am ready now, I would like to leave."  
  
This made Hayate move from Susande's grip, and come towards Kakashi "Very well, Let's get going" he said, stopping next to Kakashi "I am in charge here Kakashi, don't step on my toes" he whispered and with that he walked on, breaking into a run , back down the tunnel that led out into a large field just outside the vilage's wall. But Kakashi was close at his heels and soon passed him up in the tunnel, making it first outside and looking around for the guard, Hayate landed next to him, for he was standing in the lower branch of a tree, the sounds of Obito and Susande arriving came shortly afterwards. Hayate made a signal, which told them all that he had found the guard and all was clear, with that they headed off towards the Lord Hokage's, jumping from tree to tree.  
  
Next Chapter: Danger in the Forest! 


	3. Danger in the Forest!

Serenade of the Crimson Rose  
  
Chapter 3: Danger in the Forest!  
  
When they arived at the Hokage's home, they saw the Fourth standing on his balacony, looking out over the Village, his face appeared emotionless as though carved of out rock. They all landed next to him on the balacony with a soft thud of their feet on the hard wood flooring. Yondaime seemed not to notice them, but slowly he shifted his gaze towards Hayate.  
  
"Are you the Sqaud assigned to me?" He asked, the question seemed directed toward Hayate, more then them as a whole. Hayate, merely nodded his head to him.  
  
"Very well, I have an assignment for two of you." He paused as though expecting them to answer "There have been some strange activity in the Forest area near Orochimaru-Sama's home, I need you to check into it, as well as check with the Anbu in the Area and bring me a report" His gaze went back to the village, and Kakashi noticed something was weighing heavily on the mind of his Sensei, his brow furrowed underneath his white Anbu mask, then the Signal was given from Hayate and Susande and Obito headed off to the forest. Yondaimes face lightened a little as his eyes went to the mask of Kakashi, he smiled and slowly walked inside his home, the Anbu both to post on the outside of his door, their ears open keenly so to taken in any noise. Soon the footsteps of the Hokage were heard, his head poked out of the door and he pointed to Kakashi.  
  
"Come with me please" he said, as he withdrew back into his home, he walked across the room and slumped his form into a armchair, they were out of ear shot of Hayate when he began to speak "So Hatake, how do you like it so far?" He asked a wry smiled coming to his lips as he could invision Kakashi's eyes becoming wide behind his mask. He tried to hide his surprise, after all this was the Hokage, nothing was impossible.  
  
"Oh, so you know it's me Yondaime-Sensei, how? If I may ask" Kakashi asked, his voice was forced out, so that it seemed he wasn't surprised in the least, but Yondaime knew better.  
  
"Well, I receive information on everyone who will be my bodygaurds, when I requested the two anbu to leave, I knew that they probably wouldn't send someone so new to the field out without supervision of the squad leader. So therefor that put you here" He smiled as he explained, Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle deep down inside.  
  
" I see Yondaime-Sensei, So far, It has been more of a chore to me I-" He stopped short, he didn't want to seem ungratful or to complain infront of the Hokage. "I am sure, I will do fine in this position" He finished. Yondaime's smile brightened  
  
"As I am sure you will also Hatake, now back to your post" he said waving a hand in the air to excuse him. Kakashi smiled and walked back to his post. Once outside Hayates gaze was obviously on him, and Kakashi was almost sure he would have spoke, but Obito and Susande had returned at that very moment, their bodies heaving as though they had lost breath.  
  
"Hokage-Sama!" gasped Obito, as Kakashi and Hayate made their way towards the two. Within a few seconds Yondaime was back on the balcony, his brow furrowed with question.  
  
"What is it? What did you see?" he asked as Obito put his hand to his Chest. He took a few seconds to answer "The tree's in the forest were covered with bloodly hand prints, Hokage-Sama..fresh blood, W-we followed them, and there become more and more, suddenly they stopped, and we had found ourselfs in a clearing.. we saw a figure in the trees sprint off, but it was too fast and we soon lost it, we couldn't find any Anbu in the area". Yondaime's brow furrowed further, but this time it was from deep thought.  
  
"One of you take this information to Sarutobi-Sama" He said motioning to Susande, she then took off immediately flying fast across the rooftops towards the Third's home . "The rest of you, follow me" he ordered jumping off the balacony onto the nearest roof and sped off toward the forest area, the rest following at his heels.  
  
Next Chapter: Anko, Snake Girl 


	4. Anko, Snake Girl

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 4: Anko, Snake Girl   
  
The arrived to the point were the blood seemed to cover more of the ground and trees, the Fourth looked quickly around, Kakashi himself stared at the blood, but only momentarily for the Hokage began to move again, they travelled a couple hundred yards towards the center of the forest were a large tower was, the Hokage pushed open one of the large front doors and started to walk down the Halls, the sounds of metal clinking could be heard, it seemed to come from the middle of the tower, this is the way they headed, once they made it to the center they found themselves in a large corridor, of which they were on the topmost floor, down below a girl of about 19 was training herself, launching kunai at the wall, she had a large orange python on her shoulders as she ran around hitting various targets, Yondaime jumped down behind her, the thud of his sandles suprising her, she turned her self around and extended her hand, from up the sleeve of her overcoat a number of snakes slithered out and bit into his neck (Shadow Snake Hand), her eyes grew wide in fear as she saw the face of her 'attacker' was actually the Fourth Hokages, he wore a cold expression, suddenly his body began to rupture and exploded into a cloud of smoke (Kage Bunshin), the real Yondaime stood behind his clones position, about 5 feet.   
  
"Anko-San, you seem scared, did anything happen here recently?" Yondaime asked as though the fact he could have been killed didn't phase him. He noticed her face blush a little as she looked down "I am sorry Hokage-Sama..." She said bashfully.   
  
"Nevermind that Anko, has anything happened here?" He said again, his voice in a more pressing tone. Anko seemed to start at him oddly "No Hokage-Sama, what do you mean? I been training all morning-" She began "Why?" suddenly noticing the 3 Anbu who had just then jumped down behind Yondaime.   
  
"Where is Orochimaru-Sensei?" He asked, Ignoring her question. She looked at each Anbu then Yondaime "What..? He is up stairs bathing, I believe, Why?" She said again her eyes narrowing as she got a sudden chill down her spine.   
  
"There is a large amount of blood in the forest, and some of the Anbu are missing" He said as his eyes looked around into the Shadows of the Coridor before continuing "It was about 300 feet from the Tower, I just wondered if you or he had known about it, it is sort of Odd that something like that would happen so close, and you wouldn't know anything about it" He said as his eyes fell back on Anko. Her dark eyes seemed to get darker for a second as she kept herself from Glaring "I assure you Hokage-Sama, I know nothing about it, would you like me to get Orochimaru-Sensei?" she asked through gritted teeth.   
  
Yondaime smiled suddenly and put his hand on her shoulder "I am sorry Anko-Chan, you can never be to careful, as for Orochimaru-Sensei, just have him report to me as soon as possible" he said as he turned on his heels, himself and the Anbu jumping back up to the exit they entered at, Anko looked down at her hand as she felt a sharp pain, she noticed in her anger she had grabbed the kunai blade and it cut into her hand. 'Blast this temper of mine, after all, He had the right to be suspicious', with that she began to train again.   
  
"Hokage-Sama, do you suspect Orochimaru-Sama?" said Obito as they made their way through the forest back towards his home. Yondaime remained silent, fixed in his own thoughts, Hayate looked towards Obito and nodded his head, hinting not to ask anymore questions. Soon they arrived back on the balcony of the Fourths home, Susande was waiting for them, and nodded on their return.  
  
"Hokage-Sama, the Third says 'We will send a squad out to search the area'" she reported, at which Yondaime just nodded in reply, Kakashi watched Yondaime's face, for he had been with his sensei many years before becoming a Anbu, he thought of Yondaime as a older brother, someone who he could have comfort of conversation with, but now he couldn't say anything to comfort his sensei's mind, he had to stick to protocol. The rest of the day they took shifts patrolling a set area around the Hokage's property, Yondaime was rarely seen throughout the day, he took a long nap after coming back from the forest, he didn't look in Kakashi's direction, and Kakashi figured it would be because he would want someone to talk to, he sensed some trouble on his sensei's mind, even before their trip into the forest. Later that night, they switched shifts with another Squad and headed off to the headquaters, this would be the trend for the next few nights. Kakashi was a little bit more excited about the Squad now, for he got to get his information first hand, and he got to see his Sensei. He walked out of Headquaters, his eyes scanning the book he held in one hand, a grin present on his face underneath his tight blue spandex face mask.  
  
"Hey, Hey, Kakashi-Kun, why are you always reading that book? Whats it called?" Obito's voice came from behind Kakashi. Kakashi turned his head to see Obito out of the corner of his eye, he smiled.  
  
"Oh.. This? Its called "Serenade of the Crimson Rose" and I am interested to see how the characters develop" he said, Obito's smiled turned into a smirk "I see, I see, well Kakashi-Kun, we are all heading to Ichiraku's, you coming tonight?" as he spoke Hayate and Susande came out of the building holding hands, this site had always made Kakashi a tad jealous, and he usually declined the offer when Hayate tagged along, but he didn't want to seem childish.  
  
"Sure.. Obito-Kun, Sound's like fun" He answered, almost forcing a smile, which wasn't hard because as of late he had been in a better mood, so they headed of towards the ramen resturant known as Ichiraku's. When they got there they all sat down in a booth, Hayate and Susande in one side, and Kakashi and Obito in the other, they had done this once before, and Kakashi couldn't remember enjoying it last time, Hayate remained quite for the most part, Kakashi figured he probably was forced to tag along, Susande was content, her head resting against Hayate's arm , her own arms wrapped around it, the very sight made Kakashi sick to his stomache, 'Here was such a pretty and talented girl, with a guy like this.. look at him' he thought as his eyes scanned Hayate 'He doesn't even notice her.' His eyes went down to the table as Obito directed the conversation in his direction, this was Obito's style, he liked to initiate everyone In the coversation, making sure everyone was comfortable, even though this wasn't always possible.   
  
"Kakashi-Kun, I've always been interested to know, why did you wait so long to join the Anbu squad? We heard you graduated from the Academy at age 5, and became a Chuunin at 7, that's quite impressive." He asked, at this Hayate's eyes went to Kakashi, waiting for the answer.   
  
"Hmm.. As a Chuunin, I participated in many missions, which took a lot of my time, because I travelled around with Yondaime-Sensei, other then that, I spent time researching, and even took a short break for a while for rigorious training." He stated simply "I guess you could say, I was lazy as well." He added, his head cocking to the side as he smiled innocently. They could certainly agree with that, it seemed to be Kakashi's style to always have an excuse for showing up late. Obito smiled however   
  
"That's great Kakashi-Kun, I didn't graduate until the age of 10, and wasn't an Chuunin until 13, and joined Anbu at 18" Obito smiled, he was now 21 years old. Kakashi smiled again at his friend, and noticed Hayate had started to slide out of the booth   
  
"I better get going" he muttered, his hand going to his lips as he coughed into it "I have to be at head quarters early in the morning for a meeting, I'll see you all later." With that he coughed a few times and walked off. Susande smiled as she looked at the both of them.   
  
"So, you guys want to do anything tonight? Tommorow is our only day off for the whole month, might as well make the best of it." She said. As Obito's eyes lit up.   
  
"Ya! Alright, I got the perfect idea, lets get tattoo's! for our squad, come on, it'll be cool!" He chuckled at his idea, as he looked at Kakashi and Susande who stared at each other, wondering weither Obito was crazy, or just messing around.  
  
Next Chapter: A Pictures Worth. 


	5. A Pictures Worth

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 5: A Pictures Worth  
  
"Alright" Said Susande suddenly, Kakashi's jaw dropped in unbelieve, his hand went to the back of his head and he rubbed it nervously.  
  
"I don't know-"He started to say "Come on!" Urged Obito "Kakashi-Kun, it will be so cool, you're not afraid are you?" He said grinning, as he was trying to push Kakashi's buttons. Kakashi coulnd't help but chuckle at this.  
  
"Of course I'm not it's just-" He started again, this time cut off by Susande "Come on Kakashi-Kun, it'll be fun, after all, we're going to be together for a long time" she pleaded. Kakashi smiled, he liked the sound of that 'we're going to be together for a long time', he then sighed, for he gave in to the pressure.  
  
"I suppose I have lost this battle, lets go then, do you know someone who gives them?" Kakashi asked, his slender eyebrow raising and nearly being hidden by his hitai headband. Obito grinned a toothy grin, that could only be matched by Gai, or so Kakashi thought as they walked out of the resturant. 'I guess that means yes' he said as they walked into the village. That night they met with an old friend of Obito's who specialized in body art, and all got the same tibal oval shapped tattoo on their left arms.  
  
The next day was there day off, and Kakashi had planned to meet up Obito for lunch. He stopped by Yondiame-Sensei's to see what was going on, but he wasn't home, So he took out his book at started to read it, walking slowly through the town, he decided it was too nice of a day to waste, as soon as he had turned the corner he heard the voice that annoyed him the most.  
  
"Kakashi-San! Imagine finding you here in the middle of town, what are you doing?! Reading a book! I just got down running laps!" Gai had came into veiw, jogging "You should be training, if you're going to be my rival you have to be strong!" He grinned his extremely bright grin.  
  
"Whatever..."Kakashi said as though he was bored with Gai already. He continued to walk past Gai.  
  
"Kakashi! You're so cool, of course, you would have to be, to be my rival! Haha!" Gai started to laugh as he tried to look over Kakashi's shoulder, suddenly noticing his red tattoo "Hoi! Kakashi! What's that on your arm!? You have a tattoo, you should be nicer to your body." Gai said, the sweat beading down his forhead and his grin stayed present.  
  
"Gai. Get lost, today is my day off... I have things to do" Kakashi replied rather coldly to Gai. "Haha, Kakashi, you're such a kidder, come on, lets have a quick match, after all" Gai chuckled, and decided to play with Kakashi a little bit, so he grabbed at the book, knocking it from Kakashi's hands, Kakshi's eyes went over to Gai then down to the book, and Gai knew he had pushed the right buttons, Kakashi crouched down and picked the book up, placing it into his back pocket.  
  
"Alright Gai, but lets make it quick, I can't be beating you all day." Kakashi smiled, as both of them bawled their fist both counting in their heads '1, 2, 3' and they raised back their hands, striking them downwards quickly, Kakashi's hand formed a peace sign(Scissors), as Gai's hand laid flat(Paper).  
  
"Scissor's beats Paper" claimed Kakashi sounding happy with himself, Gai's face lost all its luster "Oh, I see.. I see.. So I guess you Won this battle Kakashi-San" He shook his head slowly and then flashed as Nice guy pose, putting a thumb into the air and his grin returning "But I will train harder Kakashi!" he chuckled.  
  
"...Sure" said Kakashi as he took his book back out of his pocket, Gai laughed harder at this and patted him on the back softly "You're too cool Kakashi, that's why I will defeat you!" and with that he jogged off in the other direction. He continued to walk around the town and read his book, he suddenly looked up into the sky. 'I better hurry, or else I will be late' He said as he started to walk towards the place him and Obito had decided to meet.  
  
When he got there Obito had already ordered for both of them and he laughed as Kakashi made excuses for showing up late. "It's okay Kakashi-Kun, I have already become acustom to your constand tardiness" He joked "Come on sit down" He said extending a hand towards the chair next to him. "So Kakashi-Kun, how are you enjoying your day off?" He asked.  
  
"Hmm.. It's not going how I planned, but such is life." He answered as the waiter placed food infront of them.  
  
"I see, well, my day is going pretty good so far, I was doing some heavy training" he smiled "So did you hear about the people disappearing?" he asked Kakashi suddenly, his brow raising as he did so.  
  
"disappearing?" he questioned back, his brow also raising, at which Obito gave a grim look and played with his food "Yes, apparently it's a real mystery, we have found that a number of people are missing almost everyday , nobody knows whats causing this, but the victims include a number of chuunin, anbu and a few gennin" he looked up at Kakashi once again to see his reaction. Kakashi wore the same lazy exspression he always wore.  
  
"I see, and does this have anything to do with the forest?" he asked Obito his grey eyes staring into his plate.   
  
"Nobody can say, but one thing is for sure, the person has become more stealth, and is leaving less of a blood splatter, some are even thought to be alive, whoever it is, Hokage is putting us on high alert, the third is even heading the investigation." He explained. As he watched Kakashi, who suddenly raised his head.  
  
"I see, And how did you come by this information, Obito-Kun?" he wondered. Obito smiled a little "Oh, Susande told me when I talked to her about a hour or so ago, She had heard from Hayate, his meeting was cut short due to investigations, not only this news but, apparently the Kyubi has been spotted coming into the countries borders" He added, his voice becoming hushed.  
  
Kakashi's eyes opened wide 'The Kyubi' he thought 'That monster?!' "But Obito, why wasn't everyone alerted?" He asked. Obito shrugged "They don't think he will attack apparently, they think he is passing through, after all, it's not like we could take him on, we don't have enough man power due to the war, we are still trying to build ourself up as a major village again." His shoulders slumped, as he picked at his food with his chopsticks. 'No wonder Yondaime was so worried' Kakashi thought.  
  
After lunch, Kakashi did his normal training that he had set up, he decided not to try and stop by Yondaime's, because of the investigations, and the Kyubi, he knew that Yondaime would be busy, it would be best to wait until the next day.  
  
He walked down the street towards his home, ready to relax the rest of the day, sweat still glistening on his brow, a white towel around the back of his neck. He saw Susande coming down the street, her hair was tied back in a pink bow, some of it was in braids, Kakashi would always remember how pretty she looked on that day. He walked a little slower, half hoping she wouldn't notice him, for he was sure he looked pretty bad. They passed by each other and Kakashi breathed a sigh.  
  
"Hey Kakashi-Kun" she said suddenly, he turned his head to see she had turned herself around and saw him. He half smiled and turned his torso towards her, raising his hand and cocking his head to the side "Hello, Susande-Chan" he exclaimed. She walked closer to him, and put her hands behind her back, smiling widley as she bounced back and forth on her heels. "Why are you so excited?" He said grinning slightly  
  
"Is it that obvious?" she giggled, her cheeks turning a little pale "Well, I am on my way to visit my sister, she just had her baby, and I am going to see him." She smiled.  
  
"Oh.. I see" Kakashi said "Well good luck then" he started to turn away.  
  
"It was nice to see you Kakashi-Kun" she said, and he looked back towards her to respond, she was smiling so cutley, he couldn't help but smile as well. "and you too Susande-Chan, you look very pretty today" he smiled big, his eyes turning into tiny slits as he cheeks pressed upward. Suddenly he felt something soft brush against his skin, opening his eyes he noticed Susande was now standing closer, apparently she had kissed his cheek, for she was blushing immensly "T-Thank you very much, Kakashi-Kun" she said as she turned and started to run off. Kakashi stood there for a second, himself blushing a tad as she walked away, he grinned to himself and then headed home for a relaxing night.  
  
Next Chapter: On the Edge of Insanity 


	6. On the Edge of Insanity

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 6: On the Edge of Insanity  
  
The next day things seemed more real, Anbu gaurds had doubled and everything was set to high alert, apparently some more Anbu gaurds had disappeared, and the trend seemed to be in groups of two, therefor everyone was forced to stay in their groups and were not to split up under any circumstances.  
  
Hayate seemed to be more or less enjoying himself, for he was in the higher ranks of the Anbu, and therefore was in the circle of information, the lesser Anbu themselves were left to ponder what was actually going on. The streets of the Village were pretty much empty, some children and young adults were still seen in the streets playing, but for the most part this interaction made people uncomfortable, it almost seemed that the war that had not long passed had come back suddenly. Anbu were seen patrolling all over the village, their black and white cloaks constantly jumping over alley ways and streets.  
  
Hayate and his squad for the most part stayed at Yondaime's estate, he was compling some research of the investigation, and that took most of the morning, when he was finished how ever, he accounced "Alright, lets go"  
  
They took off , following his pace across the village towards the large stone mountian were a monument was being constructed for all the villages Kage' just in front of it stood the Third Hokage's home. They only saw a glimpse of one Anbu since they arrived, they all went into the Thirds home, Susande and Obito took positions near the front door as Kakashi and Hayate accompanied Yondaime to the Thirds Chamber.   
  
"Hello Yondaime-San!" said Sarutobi, his face a beam of joy as he walked across the room to Yondaime and gave him a one armed hug "How is she?" He asked, he was all smiles as he nodded to both Kakashi and Hayate, which meant they could go guard the chamber door, they were positioned on the inside of the chamber, and stood so that if the door were to open they could easily get behind someone who entered. Kakashi put all his concentration into hearing their conversation, though they still were in ear shot, he knew they might move around.  
  
"She is doing great, Sarutobi-Sama, she should be due any day now." He said sounding pressed to change the subject "Unfortunatly this isn't a normal visit, I came to talk to you about the disappearances." He said, his voice in a serious tone. Sarutobi's smile faded a little.  
  
"I see, Very well, what about them Yondaime-San?" He asked, his tone more serious.  
  
"Well, after compling my research with that of the Anbu, we came to the conclusion that this might be the doing of Orochimaru" the weight of his words seemed too heavy for Sarutobi for he didn't say anything for a while. But suddenly he broke the silence.  
  
"Orochimaru?" He said questionably "I understand that you two don't like each other-"He started   
  
"Hokage-Sama" Yondaime interupted "I insure you it has nothing to do with my personal opinion of Orochimaru, but the crimes seem to point in his direction, and even though he claims otherwise, the first abduction was made in the forest."  
  
Sarutobi seemed to take this into consideration "But we still don't lnow the faces, and Orochimaru has denied ever knowing about them, I have no reason to distrust him, he is my star pupil.." he trailed off, Shaking his head "I will check into it again Yondaime, but I can't help but think this has something to do with Jiraiya hatred for Orochimaru, however, It is your judgement I should trust the most." He added.  
  
Yondaime smiled "I understand this taxes heavy on your heart, Sarutobi, that's why it took me so long to come to tell you, I assure you that my claim is only for the safty of the village." He hugged Sarutobi's somewhat shorter form.  
  
"Send my love" said Sarutobi as he smiled. "I will" answered Yondaime.  
  
On their way back to Yondaime's dwelling, he turned to Hayate "report to your squad, no one is to enter The Forest of Death" Hayate nodded his head back to Yondaime, and when they made it back, Susande, Obito and Hayate went to spread the word, Kakashi was left alone with Yondaime.  
  
"Hatake, how are you doing" said Yondaime, seeming lighter hearted.  
  
"I am fine, Hokage-Sama" replied Kakashi, his tone soft.  
  
"Hatake, what's wrong with you?" Yondaime asked, sensing something was on Kasashi's heart, also, Kakashi had used his formal name.  
  
"Well, Hokage-Sama, I was wondering the other day what was wrong with you, when I saw you were troubled, but only recently did I find out about the Kyubi, and the constant disappearances." Kakashi replied, and suddenly Yondaime understood  
  
"I see Hatake, I am sorry, I wish things were the way they used to be." He smiled sadly "I am so busy now, with the child on the way and everything, maybe after it is born, we will all go on missions together like old times" he smiled brighter "You see, I thought it would be easier for you to be an Anbu, so you would be busy all the time, I am sorry, Kakashi"  
  
Kakashi nodded, of course he understood this, he shook his head slowly, he knew he was being selfish thinking that Yondaime should confide in him like he used to. "I understand Yondaime-Sensei, Thank you."  
  
Soon the others returned to fetch Kakashi, more Anbu had travelled with them to take over the guard, and that ended the day for Kakashi.  
  
Next Chapter: The Kiss, The Battle, The Outcome! 


	7. The Kiss, The Battle, The Outcome!

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 7: The Kiss, The Battle, The Outcome!   
  
The next week, they had another day off, it was unexspected, but they all knew why they were given it, they knew they would be on duty for a long time, with things going as current, so far, nobody had been captured for the disappearances, and they seemed to suddenly stop, everyone was a little suspicious, so they kept the guard up. On this perticular day, Kakashi had decided to get some early morning training. He was his own worse critic when it came to his skill, and lately he thought to be slacking behind on his speed. Weighted training was the salution to this, he had picked this method up from his lifetime rival Gai, although he couldn't stand as much weight as him, but he liked this method anyway. The day was a musky one, the dew had started to lift and because of the clouds above made it a misty morning. Kakashi trained vigorisly until he felt tiny droplets of water, 'This rain is really cold, I better head home, the last thing I need is a cold.' With that he began to walk home from the field he always trained in, it was a long walk, but the rain wasn't more then a sprinkle, Kakashi looked lazily upward into the sky. 'This is will bad, but I don't have the strength to go faster' by the time he got towards his side of town, he saw someone walking gloomly down the street towards him, he couldn't really make out the slumped form, for by this time it was raining heavily as he passed by the person he saw it was a female, her hands were up to guard her face, and she appeared to be crying. Kakashi walked few steps by her and stopped, turning his torso to look at her as she walked on. 'Susande?' He thought, turning fully around and grabbing her by the wrist, he pulled her towards him. It was indeed Susande, and her face was streaked with tears, this was noticable to Kakashi only because her cheeks were red and the skin around her eyes looked raw.  
  
"Susande-Chan, whats wrong?" He asked, his voice was soft, and barely heard over the rain. She looked up into his eyes and her own started to fill with tears, she slumped forward resting her head on his chest. Even though the chatter of the rain was loud, he could still make out her sobs, she placed her hands on his chest near her head, turning her cheek to the wet cloth of his vest, as he let go of her wrist, and placed the palm of his hand in the center of her back, patting lightly. They stood there for a few moments, and he held her why she cried, but in Kakashi's mind it seemed like a eternity passed.  
  
"Kakashi-kun.." she whispered, barely over the sound of the rain.   
  
"Yes, Susande-chan?" he answered her.  
  
"Could we .. . Stay like this, forever?" she asked, as she nuzzled her head against his chest. He remained silent for a while, not knowing what to say, 'What is this all of a sudden? I never knew she even thought of me this way' he smiled to himself 'Something must have happened between her and Genomi.' He knew that his answer would be, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, first he had to know what had gone on.  
  
"..What happened between Hayate and you? Susande-chan.." he asked his voice going soft again, his emotionless grey eyes staring down the street a little ways, he was a good head or so taller then her. She started to sob once more but stopped aburptly.  
  
"We..had A fight, h-he told me I like you more then I like him" she announced in hushed tones. Her hand then went to her cheek as she blushed "I feel so silly, here with you, and telling you this" she exclaimed silently, and went on "We were talking about going to eat somewhere with Obito-san, and I told Hayate that it would be nice if we asked you to come along. He claimed that I always wanted to have you come along, and that maybe I should go with you instead of him, then he told me he didn't want to talk to me agai-" her voice broke off again and she started to sob once more, Kakashi pressed her closer to him and let her cry again for a while.  
  
"I am so sorry, Kakashi-kun, acting like this" She said, her head turning so that she rested her forhead against his chest, her hands raising to her fast as she rubbed the tears from her eyes with bawled fist. She felt his cold hand on her chin suddenly as he lifted her head so they were eye to eye.  
  
"It is okay Susande-chan" he said, that same innocent looking smile on his face "I don't mind, I enjoy every moment I spend with you." he said, her cheeks turning a little pink.  
  
"Kakashi-kun.." she said as they stared into each others eyes. She placed a hand on his cheek and he placed his softly on her wrist. She gripped the lining of his mask and slowly pulled it down and she leaned forward, her lips puckering a little, he also, leaned forward their lips embracing. Time seemed to stand still, and Kakashi never really remembered how long they held each other, but he did remember that this moment was broken by a cough.  
  
It was the cough of Hayate, as they both knew, Susande's eyes opened wide in surprise, the blush of her cheeks deepening as Kakashi let his grip of her slip and she backed away a little, Kakashi's hand went up and pulled his mask back up. "So.. how long have you been standing there, Hayate?" in his foolishness he had let his guard down. He turned his head to see Hayate standing near a fence.  
  
"I arrived just now, I came after Susande after I saw the rain was getting worse, I didn't want her out in these conditions, I also wanted to tell her I was sorry... but then, I never expected to find this." His voice was as though it held no emotion, but both Kakashi and Susande could tell it was filled with jealousy and loathing.  
  
"Hayate-kun, it isnt what it looks like, I-" Susande began as she walked towards Hayate, but he raised his hand to hold her at bay. His eyes were fixed on Kakashi.  
  
"Don't come any closer, just move out of the way, we will settle this between us, Hatake Kakashi" he said "I've been waiting for this since you first entered the meeting room. When Susande had told me she met you outside, the way she described you, I knew you would be my rival" at his words, Susande's hand went to her cheek, she blushed a tad.  
  
~FLASHBACK~  
  
"Hey Guys, guess who I just met outside? Our new recruit, Hatake Kakashi" she told them, her masked was lifted so her face had shown.  
  
"Oh really Susande? What's he like?" Obito-san asked, his face covered by his Anbu mask. She grinned, and decided to poke fun with Hayate, she knew how to make him jealous.  
  
"Oh, he is tall, very handsome, and has the prettiest grey eyes" she said, grinning a little as she slid her mask down, she could hear Hayate growl a little under his mask. Obito already sensing this tension, let out a little chuckle.  
  
"You're such a kidder" he said to break the ice.  
  
~END FLASHBACK~  
  
Thinking back to it, She wasn't joking. She had always been attracted to Kakashi, but she did however step to the side. The fight was short lived, Hayate was good with mostly taijutsu type moves and Kakashi was good at avoiding them, after all Gai was his rival, and he was a taijutsu specialist, he knew that Hayate was just venting, but still, he was his rival, soon Hayate became inraged and drew a double sidded kunai, used for close hand combat, Kakashi looked at the kunai and blinked 'Suddenly this has become serious'. Kakashi took out a Kunai as Hayate came at him, stabbing with the blade, which Kakashi brushed to the side with his own Kunai, his leg swinging behind Hayates and hitting him in the calf, the knocked Hayate off balance, but he regianed it, stopping on the other foot he spun himself backwards, his leg spinging, and the heel caught Kakashi in the chin. Kakashi's eyes narrowed, as Hayate began his attack again he moved faster this time, and Kakashi wasn't able to brush it this time, for Hayate locked his Kunai against Kakashi's twirling it around so that Kakashi's arm flew wide, Hayate's kunai was aimed for Kakashi's chest, Kakashi quickly grabbed the blade of the Kunai to stop the thrust, the blade cutting the skin in his hand open, he nearly winced, but he pain numbed do to the chill in the air, his other arm came back and his Kunai stabbed into Hayates hand. Hayate winced in pain and fell back on his attack.  
  
"Damn it Hatake, I will kill you!" He said as he rushed forward again, at this time, Kakashi had already drawn another Kunai, and as he rushed forward, he brung the Kunai down in a stabbing motion, he was aiming for a muscle near the collar, which would have rendered Hatake's arm useless, Hatake, was amazed by Kakashi's speed and stopped in his tracks, unable to defend himself, he prepared for the pain, but he heard a thud, for Susande had rushed between them and blocked the attack for him, crossing her arms above her head. Kakashi stuck his finger in the loop of the Kunai and twirled it backwards, setting it inside the already open holster strapped to his leg. Kakashi looked at Susande as she helped Hayate up and he put his arm around her, she looked at Kakashi, her face expressing how sorry she was, and from that moment, he knew that the girl he had come to love, was in still in love.  
  
Next Chapter: The Nine Tails! 


	8. The Nine Tails

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 8: The Nine Tails  
  
"A Few weeks back we had our sources report the Kyubi had entered the border of the country of the flame, we have had some of our squads tracking him, but so far we have yet to hear any activity, he seems to be content for the time being. But from what we know from the past he is a trickster and likes nothing more then to destroy." Announce the leader of the Anbu in his report to the Kage's they nodded their heads.   
  
"He has been a menace to us for far too long, how he was released into this world we still havent confirmed, but he can easily take on a whole village of Shinobi, should he come here, I don't believe we would survive the onslaught" Another Anbu added in.  
  
"Are you suggesting we attack him head on?" questioned the Third Hokage.  
  
"Not at all Hokage-Sama, what we suggest, is, until we have confirmed he has once again left the Flame Country, we evacuate the village to the bunkers" said the Anbu leader  
  
"Hmm.. but they are still being constructed under the cover of the Monument, they wouldn't be sufficent for the us, also, that doesn't rid us of him ever coming back" frowned the Third. "Sooner or later we will have to defeat him, but I suppose, it will have to be later, Untill then, the women and children should be evacuated to the back of Village, we can't use the bunkers at this time. Should the Nine Tails come withing 100 kilometers of this Village under our watch, we shall go out to meet him. If we cant defeat him, we can atleast scare him away from the village to avoid needless deaths and destruction" he announce, his voice was serious, as these were decisions, and orders, they were discussed between both Kage's proir to the meeting. Kakashi and his Sqaud were included in the meeting, because they were the Fourths guard.  
  
"We have still had no more disappearances reported, nor have we been able to apprehind the culprit, also, Lord Hokage, nobody has seen or heard from Orochimaru-Sama for about a week." Reported the Anbu Leader, he was given orders to watch Orochimaru's activities by the Hokage. Sarutobi's face grew grim and he felts Yondaime's hand on his shoulder and he sighed.  
  
"I see, very well, keep monitoring him, and I will arrange to have his premesis searched." He looked around, lost in this thoughts.  
  
"Is that all?" asked Yondaime as he looked at the team captians, they all nodded and disappeared in flurrys of smoke.  
  
"I don't know why I try to trick myself into thinking it isnt possible for Orochimaru to do such a thing, I guess it is because I put so much into him, maybe too much." Sarutobi paused for a second, and then continued "He is the only one of my students that still resides in the Village, Tsunade was gone long ago, out studying the medical field and probably gambling, Jiriaya is too busy with his books. I guess I just hoped one of my student's wouldn't abbandon the Leaf." He shook his head "Oh well, what is done, is done, and I can't ignore the convictions against him, no matter what".  
  
"Sarutobi-Sensei, please don't think of them as gone, they still follow the way of the shinobi, I am sure" Yondaime tried to offer him a word of comfort, but it didn't seem to smooth the situation, Sarutobi had always been taken with Orochimaru, that's part of the reason Jiriaya left in the first place. After it had been announced who would be the next Hokage, Jiriaya had announced that he had always been interested in book writing, and was off doing research for his books. Of course, nobody was surprised that the type of books he wrote were perverted. Tsunade on the other hand had left a long time before that, Figuring she would be the last choice as it was, plus it wasn't her dream to be the Hokage, she was interested in gambling, she also speicialized in the medical field, so it was possible she always was furthering her research. Orochimaru took a different approach, although it wasn't said by him that he loathed the fact that Sarutobi didn't allow him to be successor of the Kage title, he made it very apparent with his actions, he slipped into the darkness and avoided contact with anyone, some say he was given to sorceries, and it was Yondaime's personal opinion that he was working on some jutsu to exsact his revenge and kill Yondaime and Sarutobi. But he wasn't worried, the only thing that scared Yondaime about Orochimaru was his appearance, he looked so ghostlike, and so much like a snake that it made his skin crawl.  
  
"We will be going now, See you later Sarutobi Sensei" said Yondaime as he left with his Anbu guard. The rest of the day was pretty much standard, Information reports from various Anbu Sqauds came about every 45 minutes.  
  
Somewhere off the border of the Village was a remote town that the Konoha used as a routing point for most of their trades. It was approximatley 120 kilometers from the village itself. The day was quiet and the sun was shining bright, the clouds of yesterday was gone. A few jounin had stopped to get their lunch at a popular resturant. Suddenly a strong wind rocked the building. "Ha ha ha ha, time for a snack, you tasty morsels better make it interesting, lots of screaming!" came a mammoth voice from outside, it was deep and full of energy, and suddenly there was a crash, and the shinobi rushed outside. "The Kyubi!!!" yelled a townsfolk as he ran by the Squad, sure enough nine firey red tails rose and fell in the air, creating powerfull tidal waves of air, so much that they seemed to push the shinobi back, though they were a good 100 feet away.  
  
"Try and get some of the Villagers out and into hiding" Said the Squad's captian, two off the ninja jumped forward between blast of air and slowly made their way up the street and jumped into the buildings on the sides, moments later a flood of people came out and screaming, ran towards the opposite end of town "Flee into the forest" the leader called to them.  
  
"Go fast, you have to reach the Konoha, the Kyubi will be there tomorrow at this rate"the captian explained, The man nodded bit into his thumb it started bleeding, he formed a few seals and slammed a seal to the ground (Summoning Technique), a huge bird appeared, and the man was clasped around its neck, the speed off, and just as soon as they had the Kyubi jumped into the air and snapped at the bird, but it was too fast and evaded his grip, speeding off towards the Konohagakure. Kyubi landed on the top of the resturant, and it broke beneath his paws.  
  
"Damn that bird, I wanted to kill it" muttered Kyubi as he looked around at the debris "Now where did all the people go, its no fun if I can't kill anything, neh?" suddenly he spotted the captian, the others had escaped with the villagers   
  
"Hey, hey, little man, how would you like to be a tasty snack? You're not much, but you'll be an appietizer" said Kyubi, letting out a horrific chuckle. Then with a quick swipe of his claw, the man fell, his body chopped into 6 pieces. Kyubi picked up the pieces on his claw and stuck it into his mouth. "Damn, not even worth eating, anyways, were is that village they were talking about, should be plenty of fun there,neh!? Hahaha" and with that he began to walk towards Konohagakure.  
  
Next Chapter: A Hero is born? 


	9. A Hero is Born?

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 9: A Hero is Born?  
  
Reports came late in the night that the Kyubi was heading towards the Konohagakure, an emergency meeting was called, and the Kage's decided it was best if they went out to meet him. Early in the morning the Village was roused, all men called to arms as the women and children were to be shown to the shelter. The shinobi of the village all gathered together and headed towards the direction their reports came from, none doubted that the Kyubi would by now be lurking near. All the shinobi went, except for Yondaime, for late in the night his wife's water had broken, he was now at the hospital.  
  
He sat with his head in his hands, his fingers coursing through his hair. His whole world had turned upside overnight, He knew that it was a good possiblity that Kyubi would come to Konohagakure, 'but not today' he thought 'today of all days'. He had been at the hospital for a few hours, and found that his wife was having complications due to the labor, it was very possible that he would lose both the baby and her at the same time, for the first time he felt powerless to do anything.   
  
Suddenly there was a cry heard throughout the ward, the screech of a baby.  
  
"Wow, that's one loud baby" said a passing nurse who had looked back at the room which held Yondaime's family. He smiled and rubbed the back of his head 'sounds like me', a few minutes later the door opened and the midwife came out, bundled in her arms was Yondiame's son, he looked just like him, or atleast he thought so, just a little like his mother. He grinned as he ran his finger under the babies chin, in that moment he had forgot all his worries, but soon they came crashing back down onto him. His eyes suddenly went to the midwife, whom had a sad smile.  
  
"I am afriad, we have lost her, Hokage-Sama, I am sorry" she said softly. Yondaime felt as though his heart stopped beating, but as he looked down on his child he couldn't bring himself to cry, he just nodded slowly. The widwife handed the baby to Yondaime, who cradled him in his arms. Yondaime suddenly felt a cool breeze pass by him, and a silent plop.   
  
"Hokage-Sama, I am afraid we have bad news." The voice belonged to none other then Kakashi. Yondaime turned around to see that 3 anbu stood behind him,'more bad news, I guess it cant be helped' he nodded for Kakashi to go on.  
  
"The first platoon met with Kyubi approximatley 2 kilometers from the Village, at this point, we are at a stand still, but many Shinobi have already lost their lives. We can't hold him off much longer." Kakashi reported. Yondaime had been thinking about this as well, he knew that Kyubi's power was great and knew a way that would possibly stop him, but it would be at a great cost, and up until recently he wasn't prepared to pay that price. He looked at Kakashi, and smiled suddenly.  
  
"That's okay, I have a plan, but I need your help" he said, he had already set his mind on what he must do, he would have to use THAT jutsu. He handed the child to Kakashi. "Protect him with you life Kakashi, follow me" he said, and with that they all disappeared.  
  
Within minutes they were hoping along on the back of the King of Toads, Gamabunta, his leaps covered the 2km gap within a minute, when they arrived at the scene of the slaughter, they found bodies littering the ground, some Anbu in white robes there checking the bodies, two of Kakashi's comrades jumped down to exchange information with them. Suddenly with a poof of smoke Sarutobi was standing next to Yondaime on the top of Gamabunta's head, his diamond staff in his hand.  
  
"I am glad you are here Yondaime, I am afriad we haven't been able to do much but slow his movements at this point" Sarutobi said, he was panting heavily, spots of blood were on his face. "Though we don't stand much of a chance, we will fight to the death to protect Konoha!" he said standing up straight. He looked at Yondaime, who appeared calm.   
  
"What are you planning Yondaime?" he asked suddenly feeling worried. But Yondaime didn't answer he kept looking onward, a smile creeping along his face.  
  
Surotobi watched him for a second, and Gamabunta groaned "Hmmm? Yondaime, are you planning on using THAT jutsu?" his gigantic voice boomed out, Sarutobi's eyes suddenly widened 'Of course' he thought 'He is going to try that'. Sarutobi cleared his throat and was about to argue with Yondaime, but suddenly Yondaime turned and stared at him, the calm on his face and the look in his eyes showed his resolve, and in all logic, this was the only way they could possibly defeat the Nine Tails. Sarutobi had known this technique himself, but it had been one that was only used under emergency.  
  
"Just one thing Yondaime, you wont have enough Chakra, me and you both know this. What will you use as the vessal?" he asked, Yondaime then looked back at Kakashi, who was at this point dumbfounded by their conversation, 'what jutsu?' he thought. Sarutobi looked at the ANBU, as though he didn't notice he was standing there.   
  
"I see, is that Kakashi then?" he asked scanning the ANBU and noticing for the first time that he held a bundled baby in his arms.  
  
"It is, but at this point, his body is too old to be a vessel to Kyubi." Yondaime responded, as Sarutobi's eyes went to the baby 'So she didn't make it then.. I see'.   
  
"Very well Yondaime, I will see what I can do, lets go Enma!" he shouted, his diamond staff's eye opened "Roger!" it shouted, but Sarutobi seemed to freeze in his tracks as he looked at Yondaime.  
  
"Goodbye Sarutobi-Sama" said Yondaime suddenly, Sarutobi stared at him and nodded slowly "Goodbye Yondaime", and with a swirl of leaves he disappeared. Within a few seconds the growl of Kyubi could be heard in the distance, his tails swung wildly in the air. Causing tidal waves of air which caused trees to fly and crash into the ground.  
  
"Lets go Gamabunta!" said Yondaime  
  
"Alright!" Answered Gamabunta as he jumped into the air. Kakashi still was confused about what was going to happen, but he knew it must be something grave, for the air was tense, as they lowered to the ground, Kakashi looked down, he saw the shinobi that still remained were pulling back, only a few remained near Kyubi who was growling with anger, his hind legs seemed to have been paralized.  
  
"Mother! Father!" Kakashi heard the voice of Shinobi down below, he was being carted off by a number of shinobi, the same would later be the teacher of the Ninja Academy Iruka.  
  
Next Chapter: Yondiame Shines! 


	10. Yondaime Shines

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 10: Yondaime Shines  
  
Gamabunta made his way over to Kyubi, keeping his belly low to the ground, suddenly Sarutobi appeared again. His brow was furrowed as he seemed to be doing some heavy thinking.   
  
"On the signal they are going to bind him, It's a one shot, so we must be quick about it" he announced his lips forming into somewhat of a grin. Yondaime nodded in understanding.  
  
"Sarutobi, this boy is an orphan, for his father soon dies, it is my wish that the shinobi of this village come to regaurd him as a hero, for his body will become the vessal of the Nine Tail Fox." Yondaime exclaimed as Sarutobi smiled sadly and nodded his head, Kakashi was still listening, and finally understood, Yondaime had planned to sacrafise himself to save the village, 'but how?' he wondered, 'they keep mentioning a "vessal", what does that mean..?'  
  
Soon a highpitched scream was send out, apparently by a whistle, as soon as it was done Sarutobi disappeared and the roar of Kyubi dead, Gamabunta raised up to see Kyubi seemed to be paralazyed, Yondaime saw this too and began to perform a few seals this Jutsu was very powerful but also slow to work soon the God of Death appeared behind Yondaime,he swung his beads around his hand. 'Finally' Yondaime thought, his hand motioning to Kakashi, who handed him the baby, Kyubi began to stir from the bind.  
  
"No you don't!" boomed Gamabunta, his tounge stretching out and wraping itself around Kyubi's neck, holiding him tight. Kyubi growled a little louder, his voice could be heard.  
  
"You stupid frog, I'll slice you to pieces." His voice called. With that Yondaime jumped and ran across the top off Gamabunta's tounge towards Kyubi soon he stood infront of Kyubi's nose, the God of Death had followed behind him, blue arms made of Chakra slowly worked their way outside of Yondaime's form and grabbed Kyubi.   
  
"What?!?" He growled "You bastard human, what do you think you're going to do? You can't defe-" Kyubi stopped short as the blue arms pulled back, they seemed to have a hold of something huge a small blue outline surrounded Kyubi's face.  
  
The blue arms continued to pull untill they brought Kyubi's soul into the Naval of the Baby he held in his arms, slowly it inched forth, Yondaime's brow beading with sweat, the onlookers seemed to stare in amazment, Sarutobi amung them. Soon all Kyubi's Soul was pulled into the belly of his son.  
  
"Seal!" shouted Yondaime as a seal formed around the boys naval, at these words Sarutobi jumped up besides Yondaime, who wore a smile, the beads of the God of Death jingled and he reached his hand into the back of Yondaime's head, pulling his soul out and shoving it into his mouth, as Yondaime's body fell limp so did the Kyubi's body. After gobbling up Yondaime's soul, the God of Death disappeared. Gamabunta slowly extracted his tounge, Sarutobi held the boy as Kakashi picked up Yondaime's limp body and laid it on Gamabunta's head.  
  
"It's time to head back" Sarutobi said as Gamabunta turned to jumped back towards Konoha, Kakashi jumped down to help with the work. When Sarutobi got back to Konoha he gave the care of the boy to a nurse, he had business to deal with and would deal with the boy at a later time. He had noticed during the battle that Orochimaru had not been seen, taking two ANBU with him, he made his way to search Orochimaru's premisis.  
  
Next Chapter: The flight of the Snake. 


	11. The flight of the Snake

Serenade of the Crimson Rose   
  
Chapter 11: The Flight of the Snake  
  
It was never really clear what happened between Sarutobi and Orochimaru, the only information that was given about the incedent is that Orochimaru was practicing a forbidden jutsu and using members of the konohagakure as guinea pigs in his project. Sarutobi was unable to restrain him, and he escaped, but he hadn't gone far, Sarutobi had commanded the best squad of Anbu to go after him, this Squad happened to be Kakashi's Sqaud, they were by far the most talented, which was the reason they had been assigned to guard the Fourth in the first place.  
  
"I can't believe we have to go after that guy" Obito muttered, as they jumped from tree to tree "He gives me the creeps" he exclaimed. Kakashi remained silent, a lot still weighed on his mind. Susande nodded in agreement "Me too, but he has that effect on people, some say that's why he is such a great shinobi, he appears as though a ghost" she said, grunting softly as she pushed off of a low branch. Suddenly Hayate stopped and put his hand in the air making them hault as well. They slowly jumped over to him, looking down they saw a man casually walking through the forest, Hayate crotched down and formed a seal, spliting into a clone(Shadow Clone), whom jumped across the gap, the person looked up, his face veiled by a sakkat and lengthy black hair, his veiw followed the clone, the clone turned around under the cover of the tree's and jumped down infront of the man.  
  
"Hello, Have you seen anyone around here?" the clone asked the man, whom adjusted his hat.  
  
"No one besides me has come this way" he said, his voice was soft but harsh.  
  
"I see, Orochimaru-Sama, where are you planning on going?" the clone asked, his voice forceful. The mans form seemed to vibrate, they could hear him chuckle softly, suddenly from his sleeve a mass of snakes formed and ripped into the clone(Shadow Snake Hand), it dispersed suddenly, Hayate had already thrown needles at Orochimaru's form, for he knew he wouldn't come silently if at all, even Kakashi was surprised at Hayates accuracy, the Needles struck the forms neck and it turned into nothingness, for it was a clone as well(Shadow Clone). They all became surprised, looking around, the sound of a chuckle could be heard deeper in the depths of the forest.  
  
"You shouldn't have come, Sarutobi is a fool to think I would be taken by four ANBU" his voice was loud and clear now, but it seemed to come from all around. It deepend their surprise to see that they were found out so quickly, had they been careless? No, he was just that good. They took a defensive stance, all waiting for some type of movement, when suddenly from a tree a fist flew forward, catching Obito in the jaw of his Mask, which shattered instantly revealing his face, Kakashi was amazed to see Obito move quickly to defend by throwing 3 Kunai at Vital points in the Body, the hand withdrew, and they all waited once more, their backs to each other. The next attack was focused on Kakashi himself, though it wasn't physical, it had been the first time in a long time he had thought he would loose his life, for the face of Orochimaru appeared in the tree infront of him, the look in his eyes seemed to freeze him in fear, he knew the technique well, for every ANBU did, but this was different, it was more powerful(Body Freeze Technique). He gasped for breath, suddenly a Kunai lashed out infront of him, slashing the face of Orochimaru, infront of his stood Obito, he looked back so that Kakashi could see his left eye, his jet black hair swishing to the side.  
  
"Don't worry Kakashi, I won't never let my comrades die" he said simply, his eyes were crimson now not the black comforting eyes Kakashi had seen before, these eyes were Sharingan, the Copy Wheel Eye. He then knew why Obito was so quick to react, for he had heard about the eye before and that it was able to slow down the movements of the body, even seen through some Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Kakashi slowly with a trembling hand reached for a Kunai and cut the back of his hand to break the technique. Suddenly they heard a chuckle again, this time further away.  
  
"I'll be back someday, tell the Hokage he better pick his successor soon" that was all he said, they never detected him moving away, so they stayed in their positions for a little less then an hour, waiting to make sure it wasn't a trap.  
  
When they got back to Konoha they gave a full account of their actions, it was most troubling for Sarutobi to hear the words, even after he had confronted Orochimaru himself.  
  
The rest of the day was spent on recovery, then things pretty much returned to normal for the rest of the week, the security around the Village had been lowered quite a bit and it was time for another day of relaxation. Obito and Kakashi had spent a lot of time together since that day, training and just talking, it had been a while since Kakashi had spoken to Susande, but Obito had seen her on a normal basis, they kept away from the subject for it made Kakashi uncomfortable, and Obito could tell this. Kakashi learned many things about Obito since then, for he felt more connected to him after what had taken place, he felt foolish having to be saved, he had been in countless battles with powerful foes. Obito told him not to worry about it, for he was probably just as scared, the difference was that Obito could see it was a clone, and that made it less real to him, he also avoided contacting the eyes. Obito knew a lot about Genjutsu and gave a lot of tips to Kakashi about it. Kakashi learned that Obito's ambitions were to learn multiple techniques and become known for for his ability to use his sharingan that way, but like he had said before, it was hard for him to do so, because he was a dense person, and slow learned.  
  
"The Sharingan doesn't just slow down the movement's but it speeds up the brain's learning, therefor it's easier to learn techniques, I can learn a whole technique after seeing it 1-2 times, and then use it myself." He explained to Kakashi, who was very interested in learning about things of that Nature.  
  
"Obito-san, why did you say what you did?" Kakashi asked him one day, he was referring to the time in the forest, which Obito knew.  
  
"I said it more to myself, then to you Kakashi-kun, it's a personal promise I made to myself, I will protect my comrades til I die, that is my way of the Ninja.." he smiled softly ".. my comrades are precious to me, therefore I'd rather not live then to live without them, I suppose, so I said that to remind myself of that promise." Kakashi smiled, he had come to admire Obito greatly, almost as much as he had Yondiame.  
  
Next Chapter: Farewell, My friend! 


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